Sony Xperia Z3+ announced

After launching the Xperia Z4 in Japan last month, Sony has just revealed that the new phone will be heading to the rest of the world in the coming weeks, but it’ll be known as Sony Xperia Z3+.

Even though Sony has only added a plus sign to the Z3 name, it’s actually added a lot to the phone. The Z3+ has a new processor (the 64-bit octa core Snapdragon 810 to be specific), a new battery, a new front camera and a slimmer, lighter body. It’s also been built around Android Lollipop, so has the best software available.

There’s also a unique new colour option, Ice Green, which will be exclusively available at Carphone Warehouse. And Sony is really focusing on hi-res music with the Z3+, so it’ll come with a set of hi-res headphones, 6-months free hi-res music streaming and some free hi-res album downloads.

Take a first look at the new Sony Xperia Z3+ in our exclusive unboxing below.

The advanced new processor should bring a lot of benefits. To start with, the extra cores and the fact that it’s 64-bit should make things run more smoothly and look a lot better. Then, the extra cores should also make things more efficient as the phone as the option to use low-powered cores for simple tasks like sending a text message.

The new battery in the Z3+ is actually a little smaller than the one in the original Z3, but thanks to the latest software and that more efficient processor, battery life should actually be a little longer. Sony says you’ll get more than two days from a single charge. And when you do need to recharge, it can be done much faster now thanks to the last fast charging technology. Plugging in for 10 minutes should give you five hours of use.

All you selfie fans out there will be pleased to see that Sony has put a new front facing camera in the Z3+. It’ll shoot sizeable 5.1MP photos, which should give you plenty of detail. And it has a wide-angle lens so you can fit more people in your photos.

Design-wise, the Z3+ looks just like the Z3 at first glance but Sony has made some small changes. The new phone is about half a millimetre thinner and eight grams lighter, which may sound insignificant but you really can feel the difference. Sony’s also done away with flap over the charging port, even though the Z3+ is just as waterproof as the Z3.

Overall, the new Sony Xperia Z3+ looks really good. We’ll be comparing it to its biggest competitors and getting those videos live soon, so keep checking back if you want to see how it stacks up against the HTC One M9, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and Sony Xperia Z3.